Though she was eighth in last year’s championship, Hernandez said she wasn’t disappointed.

“It was a different feeling running at state and I came out of the prelims with my fastest time,” she said. “I really hadn’t experienced running two days in a row like that (prelims Friday, finals Saturday) and my body felt drained. I had no energy and the heat (in Clovis) took a lot out of me.”

Which explains part of the reason Hernandez decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to run cross country in the fall. She says she can already feel the difference when she hits the final straightaway and instead of hanging on for dear life, powers toward the finish line.

“I feel a lot stronger physically and mentally,” said Hernandez. “There isn’t a track workout now that I’d consider hard after running some hard cross country workouts. Running the 400 right is all mental and this is keeping me mentally strong.

“You just can’t finish the way you want when you’re worried about how your body feels. It just makes the race seem worse.”

Another barrier she’ll have to confront is Melissa Mongiovi, who as a freshman at West Hills High actually beat Hernandez in the state final, running 56.03 to finish seventh.

Some would call it a rivalry since Hernandez beat her at the section championships, but the Sundevil senior will have none of that talk.

“It’s not a rivalry because I don’t race her that much,” said Hernandez. “The way I see it she is there to push me and I’m there to push her. I race against people and not the clock so it’s good to have the competition.”

Since she was a figure skater from the time she was 7 until last year, you’d think Hernandez might be looking to rekindle that competitive flame when she’s in Iowa during the dead of winter. Won’t happen, she says.

“You use different muscles and it’s time-consuming, so once I stopped skating, I really couldn’t care less if I did it again,” Hernandez said. “I’m strictly track and field.”